Analysing You Me At Six’s ‘Kiss and Tell’

Video

Lyrical AnalysisYou're so good,and you're so bad,and everybody wants to be your man.Your so good and your so bad,and everybody wants to be,in your hair,and under your skin,and in those clothes,and on those, lips.But me.

Kiss and Tell, and everybody elseand you're at your best,when I'm making, baby steps.You make the rules up as you go,So I've gotta make some of my own,You make the rules up as you go,so I'm gonna send your love home.

What did you expect from me?I said there's so much more that you won't see.What did you expect from me?I said I'm smarter than,Him you see.

Kiss and Tell,everybody else, and you're at your best,when I'm making,baby steps,and I'm sick and tired,of being the good guy.And I've done my time,you should,hit the back of the line.

I know, you don't need to tell me,I know, you don't need to tell me,I know, you don't need to tell me,I know, you don't need to tell me,

I know, you don't,I know, you don't,

Need to tell me,tell me.

Kiss and Tell,Everybody else,and you're at your best,when I'm making,baby steps,and I'm sick and tired,of bein' the good guy.And I've done my time,you should,hit the back of the line.

Directly Addresses girl-Personal song?

Repetition, to make her feel his pain? To get message across?

Rhetorical Question? Already knows the outcome? Contrasts personal

‘I’m’ and ‘You’ do they hold different views, doesn’t feel connection?

What does the song mean?The song’s meaning and basis holds true to its title ‘Kiss and Tell’ about a girl that thinks she can get any guy that she wants and uses them. In effect, a girl who kisses and tells, a basic pun on the phrase that ‘a lady never kisses and tells’ perhaps the song relates to the unladylike behaviour of this girl and her subversion of typical female behaviour. What is ironic is to hear this from a male perspective as usually, it is a guy who is said to ‘kiss and tell’ and act promiscuously. Normally and mostly in pop videos we see a girl singing about a guy that's a player or how men typically, act in such a manner. The video ‘Kiss and Tell’ for The song is a first person narrative about a girl that everybody wants, and how she has a promiscuous nature and "Kisses and Tells".

Analysing the VideoThe opening establishes what appears to be the wreckage or aftermath of a

party suggesting we are about to encounter the morning after the night before. In darkness, the camera focuses on general mess which we assume is

the result of the party.

Establishing this early on (within the first few seconds of the video) audiences become aware of what may or may not have happened and can guess that we are about to perhaps see what caused this mess.

A real party-like atmosphere has been created , lots of people all in one room, mess, food fights, silly string, balloons etc , all add to the overall mise en scene and the camera constantly cutting away to new shots almost makes audiences feel like they are in the action of it too. Also, the camera being handheld adds to the party atmosphere as audiences perhaps feel they are behind the camera filming the action and watching its course.

At points, the party goers sing along and dance/jump in beat with the performing band this accentuates some key lyrics in the song but also adds to the part atmosphere of the videos narrative.

The band identify and highlight their name in the video which is quite rare, however would also go to suggest that this if one of the bands first videos and so is done to familiarise audiences with the band’s image and style.

The mise en scene of the video very much reflects the rebellious nature of the genre to which the music and video fit. We see party goers have a good time, enjoy the music, and relish the opportunity to act wildly and boldly. Perhaps the bold ‘black and white’ party colour scheme, outlandish fire dancer reflect the bold statement of the song. The video portrays the care free attitudes of the rock genre whilst the song lyrically, conforms to the open views held by the rock genre and often criticisms of society. Perhaps the band in their subversion of a woman being the promiscuous ‘kiss and tell’ are critical of society’s views on male behaviour.

At several points in the video our main view shot is of the lead singer Josh Fransceshci, we are often met with a close up of his face detailing facial expression and this is often done at high points in the song when the focus is on his voice. There are many reasons for this technique; either to establish his role as the lead singer and thus the more attention this yields and so the focus throughout is on him. Also, because the band have attracted many female fans this could also be done to satisfy fans in the amount of shots of the band that they see. However, as these close ups tend to be at more memorable points in the song, this could be done to highlight the emotion of the singer, and facial expression especially considering the meaning behind the song.

Some focus however is given to the other band members, this is done to identify each individuals role within the band. This is also done to attract the female gaze. We can also note the style of the band however, slogan tees, shirts, black etc, are all typical conventions of the rock genre.

How will I use this analysis in creating my own product?

By analysing the video for You Me At Six’s ‘Kiss and Tell’ I have seen shot by shot, how a music video of our chosen genre is created to produce an effective sequence of visuals that compliment the song . By analysing another artist's work in the same genre, I am given the opportunity to benefit from any techniques they use, may they be visual, camera work , or editing techniques, or how they have used mise en scene. Therefore we can translate similar techniques to our work to establish our video within the rock genre and hopefully improve our video as a media product.

From this analysis I have also realised how important close up shots of the band are in composing a video that is of the greatest effect and appeal to audiences ; it appears that these shots are used in order to gain audience attention, as the audience is given real insight into the artist(s)/character(s). From looking at the wide range of shots used in ‘Kiss and Tell’ I recognised how these types of shots (placing audiences within the action) allow the audience to feel a part of the video; proving that techniques used to involve the audiences especially involving popular and well known boy bands are key to a video's success.

The wide range and constant cutting between and to and from shots in this video due to its fast-cutting rate (one shot only lasts between 1-2 seconds), the fact our own music video is supposed to last about three minutes, has made me aware of just how much footage we need to compile for a video that has a feasible amount of shots. It has also enlightened me to the aspect of a video needing a lot of ‘extra shots’ that if needed can be used to fill some seconds if our narrative doesn’t cover the length of time, as it is crucial that we film more than needed to ensure we have enough.It has also been made clear to me that we don't always have to follow the conventions of our type of music video; we can break the rules to some degree. Nowadays, in modern society, this is becoming more and more of the norm.I have also learnt how the use of lighting and colour in creating moods/atmospheresis important in order for our video to be relevant to our concept. An example of this would be when we do our party scene; our aim is to create an environment which is dark, but also with the effect of strobe lighting, this environment would not be created if the lighting was bright and therefore connoting daytime.